Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, on August
6, 1809, and died at Aldworth in Surrey in 1892. He was the third of
twelve brothers and sisters, several of whom later showed evidences of
genius. As early as 1827 he and his brother Charles published _Poems by
Two Brothers_, for which they received ten pounds. At Trinity College,
Cambridge, which he entered in 1828, he won the chancellor's gold medal
for a prize poem _Timbuctoo_. On the death of his father in 1831 he left
Cambridge without a degree. Before this in 1830 he had published _Poems,
chiefly Lyrical_, and two years later in 1832 a new volume appeared
which was severely criticised, though it contained much excellent work.
The death of his close friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, in 1833 was a
terrible blow to Tennyson and one from which it took him many years to
recover. It was, however, the inspiration for his elegy _In Memoriam_,
written for the most part during the period when the loss was felt most
keenly. For some time after, Tennyson lived quietly, gaining in power
and expression, and busy training himself for the future. The product of
this seclusion came in two volumes of poetry, printed in 1842, which
were enthusiastically greeted. In 1845 Wordsworth wrote, "Tennyson is
decidedly the first of our living poets." _The Princess; A Medley_,
appeared in 1847, and three years later he gave to the world the
completed _In Memoriam_. This same year (1850) is also notable for his
marriage with Miss Emily Sellwood and his appointment as poet-laureate
in place of Wordsworth, who had just died.
From this time on his place in literature was secured, and he lived a
happy life, making occasional short trips in England and on the
continent, but remaining for the most part quietly at his estate on the
Isle of Wight. Among his later works are _Maud_ (1855), _Enoch Arden_
(1864), _Idylls of the King_ (finished 1872), a group of _Ballads, and
Other Poems_ (1880), and several dramas. He accepted a peerage in 1883.
Nine years later he died and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Tennyson, in the range and scope of his work, in the variety of his
interests, and in the versatility of his art, is the most representative
poet of the nineteenth century. He tried many kinds of poetry and met
with some success in all. He learned versification as Stevenson did his
prose style, by long-continued study and practice, with the result that
he became eventually a supreme literary artist, a master of melody in
words. His diction is admirably precise and exact, and he is easy to
read and understand. While he is rarely profound or searching, like
Browning, neither is he overintellectual; but he embeds sane and safe
thought in a mould of beauty. He was a national poet in his patriotism
and fondness for English scenery. Finally he was an apostle of religious
optimism, ready to combat the morbid beliefs which were disturbing
contemporary philosophy.